The Cost of Health Care

On the front page of the Louisville Courier-Journal this morning (and the first story I heard this morning on CNN), the headline reads “The Cost of Health Care”.  Apparently hospitals try to make money, who knew?

In all seriousness, this is something that we’ve been talking to our clients about since 2003.  This is a huge problem that I’ve believed in for the last ten years.  Hopefully with this new published information, this will start us in the right direction in getting pricing out in public.  The medical industry is the only industry in the USA where you have no idea what something costs.  When you ask someone at the hospital/doctor’s office, you get a bewildered look, as in why are you asking, or how would I know?  It’s insane.  We as a society should have been demanding this time of open information for the last twenty years, it took the government to pass a over-reaching law to finally get this type of information.

Now, I could ramble on for the next twenty minutes about this, but I’m trying to keep it at a minimum.  I would like to know why hospitals charge what they charge.  Why does heart failure cost $10,000 at Baptist Hospital, but $16,000 at Norton’s?  What does that extra $6,000 get me?  Am I more likely to survive at Norton’s, or is it simply better food at Norton’s?

Here’s a link to the article:

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20130508/BETTERLIFE05/305080118

Remember, especially for those with Health Savings Accounts, ask for a cost before having anything done to you.  You can do the same thing for prescriptions, call around to a few places before making a purchase.